April 2023 Anticipated New Releases

Hai, apa kabar? Aku balik lagi. Bulan Maret tinggal 4 hari lagi ya, dan kalau bicara soal bulan baru, bakal ada buku-buku baru yang dirilis yang jumlahnya tidak sedikit yang bahkan beberapa dari mereka sudah diincar oleh para pembaca di seluruh dunia sejak awal diumumkan perilisannya tahun lalu. Biasanya aku bakal mencampur semua buku menarik yang bakal dirilis di tahun 2023 ke dalam 1 blog post, tapi kayaknya bakal kebanyakan daftarnya, sehingga membuat daftar rilisan baru per bulan lebih rapi dan tidak membingungkan buat aku.

Untuk bulan April 2023 ini, aku punya 3 buku yang sudah aku tunggu perilisannya karena memang bikin penasaran dari blurb, cover, maupun dari penulisnya.

1. In the Lives of Puppets by T. J. Klune

“In a strange little home built into the branches of a grove of trees, live three robots--fatherly inventor android Giovanni Lawson, a pleasantly sadistic nurse machine, and a small vacuum desperate for love and attention. Victor Lawson, a human, lives there too. They're a family, hidden and safe.

The day Vic salvages and repairs an unfamiliar android labelled "HAP," he learns of a shared dark past between Hap and Gio-a past spent hunting humans.

When Hap unwittingly alerts robots from Gio's former life to their whereabouts, the family is no longer hidden and safe. Gio is captured and taken back to his old laboratory in the City of Electric Dreams. So together, the rest of Vic's assembled family must journey across an unforgiving and otherworldly country to rescue Gio from decommission, or worse, reprogramming.

Along the way to save Gio, amid conflicted feelings of betrayal and affection for Hap, Vic must decide for himself: Can he accept love with strings attached?

Author TJ Klune invites you deep into the heart of a peculiar forest and on the extraordinary journey of a family assembled from spare parts.”

Aku sudah membaca buku-buku karya T.J. Klune sebelumnya seperti The House in the Cerulean Sea dan The Whispering Door. Aku sangat menyukai tulisan beliau dan penasaran dengan rilisan terbarunya yang bergenre science fiction yang rasanya mungkin bakal berbeda. Yang aku suka dari buku-buku T.J. Klune adalah bagaimana beliau menceritakan hal-hal di dalam kisahnya tanpa ada unsur yang ‘maksa banget’ terutama aspek LGBT di dalamnya.

2. Happy Place by Emily Henry

April 25, 2023 | 400 pages

“A couple who broke up months ago make a pact to pretend to still be together for their annual weeklong vacation with their best friends in this glittering and wise new novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Emily Henry.

Harriet and Wyn have been the perfect couple since they met in college—they go together like salt and pepper, honey and tea, lobster and rolls. Except, now—for reasons they’re still not discussing—they don’t.

They broke up six months ago. And still haven’t told their best friends.

Which is how they find themselves sharing the largest bedroom at the Maine cottage that has been their friend group’s yearly getaway for the last decade. Their annual respite from the world, where for one vibrant, blue week they leave behind their daily lives; have copious amounts of cheese, wine, and seafood; and soak up the salty coastal air with the people who understand them most.

Only this year, Harriet and Wyn are lying through their teeth while trying not to notice how desperately they still want each other. Because the cottage is for sale and this is the last week they’ll all have together in this place. They can’t stand to break their friends’ hearts, and so they’ll play their parts. Harriet will be the driven surgical resident who never starts a fight, and Wyn will be the laid-back charmer who never lets the cracks show. It’s a flawless plan (if you look at it from a great distance and through a pair of sunscreen-smeared sunglasses). After years of being in love, how hard can it be to fake it for one week…in front of those who know you best?”

Sebenernya aku belum pernah membaca buku-buku Emily Henry sebelumnya, tapi aku sempat baca Book Lovers dan belum selesai baca tapi udah selesai masa peminjamannya. Book Lovers dari awal sudah menarik perhatian menurut aku dan beberapa hal juga dibuat untuk menunjukkan tipikal kegiatan manusia dalam hal romance terutama yang ditunjukkan dalam kisah fiksi di buku. Happy Place ini blurbnya lebih menarik lagi karena mengenai pasangan yang memutuskan untuk berpisah tapi tidak bisa mengumumkannya karena sahabat mereka.

3. Untethered Sky by Fonda Lee

April 11, 2023 | 160 pages

“From World Fantasy Award-winning author Fonda Lee comes Untethered Sky, an epic fantasy fable about the pursuit of obsession at all costs.

A Most Anticipated in 2023 Pick for Polygon | Book Riot | Paste Magazine

Ester’s family was torn apart when a manticore killed her mother and baby brother, leaving her with nothing but her father’s painful silence and a single, overwhelming need to kill the monsters that took her family.

Ester’s path leads her to the King’s Royal Mews, where the giant rocs of legend are flown to hunt manticores by their brave and dedicated ruhkers. Paired with a fledgling roc named Zahra, Ester finds purpose and acclaim by devoting herself to a calling that demands absolute sacrifice and a creature that will never return her love. The terrifying partnership between woman and roc leads Ester not only on the empire’s most dangerous manticore hunt, but on a journey of perseverance and acceptance.”

Sama seperti Emily Henry, buku-buku Fonda Lee juga masih ada di wishlist dan TBR karena entah kapan aku bisa mulai baca bukunya. Kayak buku Jade City cukup tebal yaitu 560-an halaman, sedangkan aku adalah jenis orang yang butuh semangat khusus untuk mulai baca buku tebal. Yang menarik dari buku terbaru Fonda Lee adalah bukunya tidak tebal! Untethered Sky ini adalah novella yang berfokus pada perburuan manticore untuk membalas dendam. Jadi penasaran dengan buku di bawah 200 halaman, bagaimana sebuah petualangan yang biasanya butuh banyak lembar bisa diceritakan dengan efektif tanpa mengurangi keseruan kisahnya.

Yang menarik dari ketiga buku di atas adalah semuanya ada giveawanya di Goodreads. Kalau kamu kebetulan tinggal di US, kamu bisa ikut giveaway ini. Sayang banget ya tidak terbuka worldwide, jadi pengen tinggal di US aja biar bisa ikut giveaway Goodreads dan giveaway lainnya. Nah, gimana dengan kalian, apa ada buku-buku yang bakal dirilis bulan April yang menarik perhatian kalian dan sudah kalian incar perilisannya? Kasih tahu di kolom komentar.